Going way back to Stephen Crane's work, I see a bit of the introduction to "Maggie: A Girl in the Streets" with the scene of the boys "playing around" aka stoning each other to death. But in this painting, instead of violence and blood, there seems to be more just chaos. But I see a trend of the kids going off on their own, and the adults just watching from a distance; from their porches, from their stoops, whatever else. It just looks like to me like the kids are running free and doing their own thing, which might contribute to the lack of structure and the lawlessness which ran rampant through the city streets in the early 20th Century
The painting of the ghetto seems to me the complete opposite of the one beneath it. In the bottom image the adults are clearly all working to enrich the community. The members of the ghetto, the majority being adults, seem to be standing around not doing very much. It's as if living in the ghetto though like living in a cavern, is still completely far off from actual life in a cavern. In the actual image of a cavern the adults seem responsible and hardworking, but in the ghetto(the reflection of the cavern) the adults are irresponsible.
In the Cliff Dwellers painting and in Ridge's The Ghetto, we see a resemblance of crowded, city life which is filled with poverty. People are all dressed in earth tone colors, none are vibrant and stand out which shows their lower class in a way. Some men have no shirts at all which shows the hot summer temperatures. Clothes hang from the lines of the "clifs" or buildings and bodies are hanging from the fire escapes. Most people in the front of the painting seem to be working, but conversing which shows a social aspect. This painting reminds me of Ridge's quote of "The heat.. Nosing in the body's overflow, Like a beast pressing its great steaming belly close." There is nothing that can be done about the crowdedness of the city and the mass poverty is everywhere around them. They are constantly reminded of this like the beast that "never stops pressing." I feel like the "cliffs" that are all around them in a way are keeping them from going up in society and have a lot of them stuck where they are. -Laura Russell
When describing Cliff Dwellers, I stated that these city streets are like a mosh pit of confusion and lonely faces. By this, I mean that these people are living in a relatively impoverished area, in which they look rather uncontent with the conditions and life they are living. I've related these themes to both Ridge's The Ghetto and Yekl. In The Ghetto, an impoverished city area is being described, which is overcrowded. The imagery in The Ghetto instantly makes me think of the image portrayed in Cliff Dwellers, in that the people wear similar clothing, hang their washed laundry out on the line above the street, and bodies are hanging from the fire escape, all of which can be literally seen in the painting. I vaguely related this painting to Yekl, in that the similar themes of poverty, and city life are seen.
What I find to be the most interesting of Cliff Dwellers is the artist’s use of the color white given that it is often perceived to be a symbol of purity and reverence. Even though the painting has a somewhat “circus-like” appeal as chaos ensues within the streets, white helps in distracting the audience from seeing what is really there. Bellows minimizes the hardships that the immigrants face by drifting the audience’s eyes towards the concentration of the color white versus the gritty street conditions. While the center of the painting may show a woman scolding a child, the fact that they are all dressed in white and blended together takes away from the harsh conditions. The immigrants are given this pure and saintly like image as opposed to the grimy stereotype that they are more often than not portrayed in. In a time of social realism where artists are trying to bring light to the harsh living conditions of the poor and working class, Bellows is contradicting that, giving hope to those living in such conditions. He makes it seem as if their lives aren’t as bad as they really are and are instead wholesome and pure like those of the upper class.
In this painting, we can clearly see how the people had to work hard for a living and to build their houses and livelihood no matter the effort and sweat. Much like Ridge's "Ghetto", the people had to work crappy jobs (lack for a better word)to get to where they needed or wanted to be in society. Also, they worked hard for what they needed and this painting along with "Ghetto" shows that time is no matter either because as we can see, as time goes on, we as people still have to work for everything we want and need just as those did in the past.
Going way back to Stephen Crane's work, I see a bit of the introduction to "Maggie: A Girl in the Streets" with the scene of the boys "playing around" aka stoning each other to death. But in this painting, instead of violence and blood, there seems to be more just chaos. But I see a trend of the kids going off on their own, and the adults just watching from a distance; from their porches, from their stoops, whatever else. It just looks like to me like the kids are running free and doing their own thing, which might contribute to the lack of structure and the lawlessness which ran rampant through the city streets in the early 20th Century
ReplyDeleteThe painting of the ghetto seems to me the complete opposite of the one beneath it. In the bottom image the adults are clearly all working to enrich the community. The members of the ghetto, the majority being adults, seem to be standing around not doing very much. It's as if living in the ghetto though like living in a cavern, is still completely far off from actual life in a cavern. In the actual image of a cavern the adults seem responsible and hardworking, but in the ghetto(the reflection of the cavern) the adults are irresponsible.
ReplyDeleteIn the Cliff Dwellers painting and in Ridge's The Ghetto, we see a resemblance of crowded, city life which is filled with poverty. People are all dressed in earth tone colors, none are vibrant and stand out which shows their lower class in a way. Some men have no shirts at all which shows the hot summer temperatures. Clothes hang from the lines of the "clifs" or buildings and bodies are hanging from the fire escapes. Most people in the front of the painting seem to be working, but conversing which shows a social aspect. This painting reminds me of Ridge's quote of "The heat.. Nosing in the body's overflow, Like a beast pressing its great steaming belly close." There is nothing that can be done about the crowdedness of the city and the mass poverty is everywhere around them. They are constantly reminded of this like the beast that "never stops pressing." I feel like the "cliffs" that are all around them in a way are keeping them from going up in society and have a lot of them stuck where they are.
ReplyDelete-Laura Russell
When describing Cliff Dwellers, I stated that these city streets are like a mosh pit of confusion and lonely faces. By this, I mean that these people are living in a relatively impoverished area, in which they look rather uncontent with the conditions and life they are living. I've related these themes to both Ridge's The Ghetto and Yekl. In The Ghetto, an impoverished city area is being described, which is overcrowded. The imagery in The Ghetto instantly makes me think of the image portrayed in Cliff Dwellers, in that the people wear similar clothing, hang their washed laundry out on the line above the street, and bodies are hanging from the fire escape, all of which can be literally seen in the painting. I vaguely related this painting to Yekl, in that the similar themes of poverty, and city life are seen.
ReplyDeleteWhat I find to be the most interesting of Cliff Dwellers is the artist’s use of the color white given that it is often perceived to be a symbol of purity and reverence. Even though the painting has a somewhat “circus-like” appeal as chaos ensues within the streets, white helps in distracting the audience from seeing what is really there. Bellows minimizes the hardships that the immigrants face by drifting the audience’s eyes towards the concentration of the color white versus the gritty street conditions. While the center of the painting may show a woman scolding a child, the fact that they are all dressed in white and blended together takes away from the harsh conditions. The immigrants are given this pure and saintly like image as opposed to the grimy stereotype that they are more often than not portrayed in. In a time of social realism where artists are trying to bring light to the harsh living conditions of the poor and working class, Bellows is contradicting that, giving hope to those living in such conditions. He makes it seem as if their lives aren’t as bad as they really are and are instead wholesome and pure like those of the upper class.
ReplyDeleteIn this painting, we can clearly see how the people had to work hard for a living and to build their houses and livelihood no matter the effort and sweat. Much like Ridge's "Ghetto", the people had to work crappy jobs (lack for a better word)to get to where they needed or wanted to be in society. Also, they worked hard for what they needed and this painting along with "Ghetto" shows that time is no matter either because as we can see, as time goes on, we as people still have to work for everything we want and need just as those did in the past.
ReplyDelete